Decided to make this thread after the one millionth racism comment out of my mother. To discuss the topic of racism, discrimination based on origins and so on.

so, I'm raging at this: In Ireland, loads of people are completely racist against travelers just because they are. this is the mother of all Hypocrisy because the English treated us like animals when they occupied Ireland and now we're turning around and being similarly racist towards the traveler community. They have every right to their culture.

Oh and: Neo-F*cking-N@zis. they're f*gs, end of story =/ And if anyone thinks different after the events of WWII, then I pity that fool. In my opinion, nazi notions and/or political opinions are not to be entertained for three seconds, and any and all nazi demonstrations should be crushed before they begin. What right have they to their opinions if their opinions are that racism should be encouraged and people of certain religions should be killed on sight?

racism is ridiculous. to me, i don't know how to explain it, it like dosn't exist as in it makes no sense. Thats like saying calico cats are dumb for eating because every color and breed of cat eats. as in purple,yellow,green,pink,brown,blue,caramel colored people (at least one if not more) do whatever the racist person is saying they do(as in only _______[<insert race here] colored people do this while at least one person of every race does that if not many many more!). Everyone can be trashy. everyone can be rude. Its not skin, blame it on the brain ;]. if racism should exist it should exist in the sense of wow that *brain* is rude. I dont know how to say what im trying to say but this is the best i can describe how i feel about the whole thing. :P

While I find the opinions of naz.is offensive, they do have a right to voice their opinions, within reason(that is if their speech incites violence in that moment or will put people in immediate danger). I know that sounds terrible, but freedom of speech also means we have to listen to the words of those who are bigoted, hateful, and completely full of it. I've seen KKK meetings in the south and while I always cringe inside at the thought, they technically are not breaking the law in any way, even if I find them distasteful. These type of groups never go away, they only morph into new hatreds, new fears.

For example, after 9-11, suddenly the US went into super crazy "I hate Muslims/Arabs" mode, which I think is ridiculous. It bothers me when these people are targeted just because of their ethnicity when that doesn't automatically make them terrorists(just like me being white doesn't automatically make me a part of the Aryan Brotherhood or the KKK). It used to be that the Jewish were the target of every ounce of hatred. They were per.secuted in witch hunts, blamed for plagues and failed crops, and all manner of ridiculous things. Catholics were per.secuted in the US when they immigrated here because we were a predominantly Protestant country. The Irish notoriously could not get a job when they came and had to work the worst jobs, similar to how we treat Mexicans today.

Its a matter of education. When people are uneducated, they simply associate a skin colour or ethnicity with certain traits without any further consideration of the actual person behind it all.

Plus, something that a lot of people don't realise, is that racism is not confined to white people. Everyone, no matter what their colour or creed, can be racist. I hate it when for example, a black person rails about how awful racism is, and then calls a white person "cracker" or "honky" and does not seem to realise, that's racism too!

Exactly. Nowadays, racism against white people is practically at an equal level with racism against blacks. I've been called discriminatory white names, and heard black people being called discriminatory names as well. I hate how "racism", in the minds of many, is always "whites discriminating against blacks" when there are all sorts of racism.

That brings up the fact that in most rap songs I listen to the rappers, sometimes black, use the "N" word in the song, but then flip out if someone calls them that.

I also hate that whenever I call someone black or someone white I'm called racist. Thats not true at all, and its not used to descriminate against anyone. Black or white is used in our textbooks, so I'm sure its not racist.

i agree that associating whites against African americans (as in racism) is not all the racism that happens in the wrold(and it mainly doesn't happen anymore that much compared to about 40 years ago :[)
but that time in history was so major and had such an impact on the way people saw racism and saw how terrible it was between the two races that they automatically associate it with that time of great impact in the world or racism (i assume of course). But that doesn't make it right.

Also, the white man didn't create slavery. It already existed for centuries before the whites made it a business. Where do you think they bought the slaves from? From black tribes, of course. It just kind of bugs me that there are people who, even now, talk about "evil whitey" in that respect.

I once had this black girl come up to the bar and order a beer. I asked her for ID and she didn't have any. She said, "You're only asking me cuz I'm black." Actually no, dear, I'm asking you for ID cuz you don't look eighteen. I'd ask you whether you were black, white or rainbow coloured. -.-

Yeah, and I'm sure there's more types of slavery than black people being enslaved, not just them. There was also attempts to make slavery less harsh like the Code Noir in France, which said that all masters who killed slaves be punished. Yes, some of the things on this document were racist, but it had some rules for the masters to follow.

Everyone gets a first impression when they meet someone no matter what race they are, we make a assumption. Its the way we are as humans.

What's interesting, actually, is I have found less racism in NYC than in my small town. I think the overexposure to different races helps people since upstate, you basically only see white folks. I can walk into a store and not see anyone who is of a different colour, literally. It doesn't matter where, I can just guarantee it. It really helps to ferment stereotypes since no one really knows better truthfully. When your only exposure is bad exposure, you aren't going to think great.

I'll admit that the few black families in my town have not given me the best of impressions, though I've always genuinely felt it was them and not some "black" culture, which I find to be a ridiculous idea. Since moving to NYC, one of my closest friends is a black fellow. Me and him talk all of the time about everything. He certainly does not fit into the stereotype... He's far from it! Taking economics classes, has a stock portfolio from my understanding, and goes to techno gigs(and tries to recruit me as well).

That's true, Delaney! We come into situations with assumptions we have learned. Its almost impossible to do away with the bad lessons we have received since they are always nagging in the back of your mind.